There are not so many clouds on the horizon now for England but they will be grateful for no complications on 10 December. That is the day when they select the tour parties for the Caribbean, but just before the squads are announced the Cricket Discipline Commission is scheduled to reveal whether any further action is to be taken against Ben Stokes and Alex Hales after that episode in Bristol 15 months ago. The absence of Ben Stokes in particular would represent a considerable spanner in the works.
Trevor Bayliss will have no input into the commission’s decision but he spoke plainly about his preferred outcome after the final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. “I hope he [Stokes] is available for our next game,” he said. “Certainly I think he’s learnt a lesson since that time. The way he’s conducted himself since he has come back into the fold has been exemplary”.
Bayliss may have been shaken by the dire sequence of events that saw Stokes removed from England’s last Ashes campaign but he still regards him as the heartbeat of the side. Bayliss chuckled when he said, “He’s a mad man. To see him on Sunday night bowl the ball and then chase it all the way to wide mid-on to stop it crossing the boundary, that’s commitment. That [the impending report] hasn’t affected him. I haven’t heard it mentioned once around the changing room.”
When talking of Stokes Bayliss becomes a little more animated than usual. “You can throw the ball to him, you can put him in any situation with the bat, you can put him where the ball is coming in the field [he took nine catches in this series]. For me he’s the first pick. His averages may not be the greatest. But you add those three disciplines together and it adds up to one hell of a player. I got into the lift on Sunday night [the third day of the Test] after dinner and he was getting out. He’d just come back from the gym. That’s how hard he works and he deserves everything he gets from the game.”
So it would be a fair assumption that Bayliss would be dismayed if deprived of his favourite all-rounder in the Caribbean, especially since the team appear to be taking shape so promisingly after their 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka. Bayliss was always a strong advocate of playing Ben Foakes, the unlikely man of the series. In turn this selection led to the possibility of Jonny Bairstow becoming England’s permanent No 3, even though this has never been an ambition of Bairstow himself.
“In these conditions batting at three is no problem for Jonny,” Bayliss said. “His challenge will be when we get home on to the seaming decks but he’s certainly a very talented player and I’m sure he’ll do whatever he can to adapt his game to that position at home as well”.
Bairstow appears the best and likeliest option at three and there is no doubt he will resume there when the first of the three-Test series starts in Bridgetown on 23 January. The oddity is that the more runs Bairstow scores in that position the less likely it is that he can play in his preferred role as a wicketkeeper/batsman.
The opening problems have not been resolved. Asked whether Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns had nailed down their positions Bayliss said: “Probably not. It’s all about runs and wickets. They’ve shown glimpses obviously of what they can do but they’ve got more hard work ahead. I think they’ve done enough to warrant selection for the next series and some of the signs are good”.
Whether Joe Denly travels to the West Indies as another top-order option is more debatable. It would be tough on him to be omitted on the basis of mediocre performances in a couple of damp, inconsequential practice games in Colombo, but fairness is not the ultimate criteria in selection. The name of Jason Roy, who could be another convert from the ODI side, was mentioned. “He’s been spoken about, so he’s getting close” was as far as Bayliss would go.
The identity of the bowlers is unlikely to change. It was “very possible” that England may play three spinners again during the series. “There’s a few wickets over there that take spin,” said Bayliss, who like his captain, Joe Root, has been constantly stressing the need to be adaptable and flexible. The great bonus is England currently have the sort of personnel who allow them to tinker with the balance of the side at will – especially when Stokes is fit and available.
